History-Making Space Voyager to Speak at UT Dallas

Chairman of Plano Firm Took Privately Funded Trip to Space Station in 2006

Aug. 14, 2008

The first woman to embark on a privately funded voyage into space will speak at UT Dallas on Aug. 22 as a guest of the Texas Astronomical Society.

The talk is part of the group’s monthly meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Founders North building.

In 2006, Anousheh Ansari captured headlines after flying to the International Space Station under a deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency. She is the fourth private space explorer and the first female private space explorer.

Anousheh is co-founder and chairman of Plano-based Prodea Systems Inc., a digital multimedia and home technology company.

To help drive commercialization of the space industry, Anousheh and her family provided title sponsorship for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million cash award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

She was previously chairman and CEO of Telecom Technologies Inc. The company, which she also co-founded, merged with Sonus Networks Inc. in 2000.

Anousheh immigrated to the United States from Iran as a teenager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics and computer engineering from George Mason University, followed by a master’s degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University.

Texas Astronomical Society meetings are sponsored by the UT Dallas Physics Department.

More information: http://www.texasastro.org/
Media contact: Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu

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Anousheh Ansari

Anousheh Ansari was greeted by recovery teams on the steppe of central Kazakhstan on Sept. 29, 2006, after the landing in the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft following a trip to the International Space Station.